mini_me

well, grandma should be banded by now!! Has anyone heard from her yet? I was still not good for anything at 2 pm on the day of my banding. I hope all is well for her!! Ethan, this time next year, Grandma's gonna be HOT!!

you typically must have a bmi of 40 or higher to have your insurance cover the procedure, that is, if they do not have an exclusion for obesity--but this is definitly NOT my area of expertise. I was self pay as my insurance would not cover it. It cost me $15,000. I am in Texas. PhotoNut is in your area, and i am sure she would be glad to put you in touch with some sources of information in Idaho. You can find BMI calculators in lots of places on the net, but i am certain you can find one at www.bandmd.com this is my surgeons site. just look for the BMI tab near the top of the page. If you keep exploring on this board, you will learn more and more. You will find answers to questions that have not even occurred to you yet. How old are you? Height? Weight?

Good Luck Sister! I was banded last week by Dr. Spivak at the SurgiCenter in Houston. Welcome to LBT, this is a great community for support. Keep us updated on your experience, btw, did insurance cover??

hey bups, I haven't had pain meds since thursday last week or so. I really do not have any pain left. ( other than those HELLO port pains, when the dern thing just wants to make sure you havent forgotten it is there ) I am sorry, I do not have any advice, but I am sure the wealth of knowledge on this board will produce some suggested explanations for your concerns. I hope you start feeling better!! ((and don't worry, we are all ready for question number eleventeen thousand and one...))

Hey Mia, gosh, we sound like we are in the same boat. I was tiny before having my first child at 18. i was a cheerleader, still have my old uniforms. the skirts fit around my thighs now...lol. how tall are you??? I have to lose 80 lbs or so also, but I am thinking I will be happy at around 60 lbs of loss. I have big hips, and when i was tiny, I always thought my butt was too big, but when I weighed 135-140, I thought my junk was just right! Besides, my goal here is to be Phat, not fat. well, good luck girl! This place is the BEST support system I have found. I have lots of fun on LBT! Another "by the way", I was just banded on 3/13/06....and I have been married 14 years this october, with three kids!!

The procedure is laparoscopic, with minimal scarring. I will be posting my scar pics this evening. My last steristrips fell off last night. I was banded on 3/13/06. I have 4 tiny scars, and one that is about the diameter of a quarter. The fills are the magic potion for weight loss with the band. There is a port attached to the band with a small tube. My port is very small, a little bigger around that a quarter. It is implanted under the tissue in your abdomen. Mine is directly below my breastbone, and hardly noticeable, even with my current swelling. When the doc does a fill, he uses a small needle to inject the port with saline, which is delivered to the band. The band inflates like a balloon, restricting the opening between your new, smaller stomach pouch, and the larger old stomach. The fill does not cause scarring. Looks like you just began looking in to this procedure. Good Luck!! You are definitely in the right place to find good information!

my doc seems to have a pretty liberal routine for returning to foods. he gave me written instructions. 24-48 hours-liquids( and he listed what he approved ) 2 days - 4 weeks-mushies- his nurse told me he didn't care of you ate chicken, as long as it went in the blender first. I don't actually blenderize it, but i chop it with a butcher knife on a cutting board, I like to play like I am Emeril, chop chop chop chop chop chop. I like to add some ranch dressing to it and eat it as a chicken salad. After 4 weeks-regular diet as tolerated. I haven't had any restriction that I can feel. I do get full when I eat, but I really do not feel the fullness until I have stepped away from the table. I make myself a small portion, and when I finish it, I leave the table. Otherwise, I think I could eat a whole chicken. I think I could drink 16 oz of Water at once. I am afraid to try it, but I can drink at least 4 oz at once. gulp gulp gulp. I am scared to try any more than that. I do not think I had ANY swelling of the tummy under my band. I am really concerned that my band won't imbed in scar tissue. How can the doc check for that?

Well, lets just start a new one. I am now10 days post op, and the steristrips are off. I can show some pics!!

thanks sherry, the pain did subside around 5 or so. i think you are right, and i may have been too full. i am having a hard time interpretting these new sensations.

Why wont anyone help meeeee-hehehe-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!!:help:

WoooooooOOOOoooooOOOOO HooooooooOOOOoooooooOOOOOO!!! Way to go, sister!!! Keep up the good work!

Dont leave me hangin guys!! I need some advice!

The other thread indicated that this was not a problem for others. You should call the Pre-op nurse just to be sure. It sure would be a disappointment for you to get up in the am, go to the center, only to learn that you will have to wait 3-5 days until your Aunt Flo retreats.

i ate lunch about an hour ago, and since i stopped eating, i have a constant, dull pain under my left lower rib, right about where i suspect my friend is. This pain reminds me of a less intense version of the pain i usually get in my side when i walk too much/fast after not exercising for a while. i can also relate this pain to gas pains i have had inthe past. i am on mushies and ate chicken salad for lunch. i pretty much have a steel gut, and probably could have eaten a steak the day of surgery, if it werent for my band needing to heal into its new place.... This pain is puzzling me... Any suggestions?

:pirate Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......the croation feller, KOVAC, paging Dr. KOVAC, STAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gonna clean the the whirlpool with jets, and hopefully if i can rid the funk, we can enjoy a blindfold in the Water....OOO LALA:pirate (no blindfold smiley):knockedou I am so glad someone else knew what TWITTERPATED was!! I was beginning to think that my extensive knowledge of Disney Trivia was an illness. And I dont think a cowbell could cure it!! Thanks for the advice buddies! (ALL of the advice...)

the last time i was having sex with my husband, i couldnt stop thinking of how i could get that black funk to stop growing in the jets of our really big whirlpool bathtub. evertime i fill the tub and turn on the jets, these funky little black floaties fill, and i DO MEAN FILL*, the tub. *Fill in band=good, fill in bathtub=nasty! so two questions, 1. what can i do to stop this nastiness? and 2. what is the weirdest thing you have ever thought while having sex? DISCLAIMER:MINI_ME ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE'S DISFUNCTIONAL SEXUAL EXPERIENCES AND/OR PREFERENCES. PLEASE REFER TO DELARLA FOR TREATMENT TOOLS, DEVICES, GADGETS, AND ADVICE ON MORE TASK RELEVENT THOUGHTS DURING INTERCOURSE. NOTE, THIS MORNING MY DAUGHTER, HANNA, WHO IS THREE, CAME IN MY ROOM AND LOOKED AND ME AND DH AS WE WERE CUDDLED IN BED BARELY WAKING UP. SHE PROPPED HER ELBOWS ON THE BED WITH HER CHIN IN HER HANDS. SMILED SWEETLY, AND HER EYES APPEARD TO HAVE HEART SHAPES SHINING IN HER PUPILS. SHE DREAMILY SAID, "AHHH, YOU'RE TWITTERPATED." GIVE ME AN AMEN IN YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT SHE IS TALKING ABOUT!!

:whoo: rockin' on...

welcome willybe, this band is great. i had been looking into this procedure for two years. i just found this community in january. i learned as much since january as i was able to learn in the two years prior. i followed through with the consult in early february, and was banded march 13, a week ago today. i have a lower bmi, starting at 38, i weighed 207 @ 5'2" on the day of the consult. i need to lose about 75 lbs or so. i was self pay, so i didnt have to hassle with insurance and unnecessary pre-op testing. this place is a, a, (someone help me with a word...pnut? gimme some of that word bank!) this place is an information explosion. if you do a little research on here, you will find about anything you could imagine concerning the band.(or your love life, or your preference for walmart vs. target, or _________you name it!!) fyi, there is a forum for newbies to gain a foundation for navigating and interpreting this board. it will be very helpful if you find yourself having trouble with our throwed off abbreviations. welcome to LBT!! Good luck on your band journey...and play nice. be careful what you ask for, cuz you just might get it here! I love PHAT PHOLKS

back from the walk...met my 30 minute goal...

:eek: i am very much less charming in person. I did learn to juggle at an early age, i thought people at the grocery store would be enchanted and empty their pockets of change, so i could get that digital watch out of the gumball machine. :spy:Now days, i'm in such high demand that i can only go out incognito :spy: :hail:My peeps love me or pity me :loco: but you are the one to be pitied, you fool... AHHH, if you only had my life :humble: :humble: :humble: :humble: :doh: yea right, i've spent the last ten years in prison, voluntarily :doh: and when i am not there, i am socializing with virginia slims and lady doral at the local bingo hall...:confused: i am such a loser. to be continued, going for a walk with my cool neighbor lady, she's rich, and she's a bitch, but she aint your bitch!!

:eek: :confused: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired:tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired :tired

hey susan, there are lots of folks that tell, and lots that don't. the great thing about this place is that we all understand each others motivation to tell or not to tell...welcome to LBT and make yourself at home...

oops...AHEMMMM. My attendence at the support meeting is quite contingent on my husband's work schedule. I will RSVP your invitation with the utmost promptness... We built our home in corinthian point in willis. almost all the way to the end of calvary road. (we first discovered the subdivision driving in on shepherd hill road...WOW, were we surprised to see how close the trailer park was!! SMACK-SELF-BE-NICE!) I have taken to playing bingo at Tejas Bingo, on the rare occasion that i do play. you can play a bizillion cards for about 20 orders of wendy's crispy chicken nuggets!! plus, i like that there is the no-smoking area. and work, where do i work? well, you asked for it. i work for tdcj(thats right, the prison). i know, i know, it sux. i have worked there soo friggin long, 11years and counting, i do not know how to function around normal people anymore. i mean how many jobs will you ever have where it is normal to discuss, on a daily basis, someone "stroking their penis" or placing their penis in the bars of their cell? you would never believe how many kinds of bitches i have been...fat bitch, sorry bitch, stanky bitch, ho-ass bitch, funky bitch, big head bitch, 5-0 bitch wannabe, my response? I might be a bitch, but i AINT your bitch, now write your mama a letter and tell her you called me a bitch! oh, well, this bitch went home everyday, they didn't. ((as a whole, they werent terribly bad. but about 10% of them made it miserable for EVERYONE!! and that ten percent included 10% of the officers and 10% of the offenders! sometimes i had to wonder which were worse, officers or offenders))i worked in security for about five years or so, on death row no less, and then one night i was in walmart, and this sweet lil old lady accidently bumped into me with her buggie, i picked her up over my head, and spun her around, then ddt'd her on the concrete, she was still moving, so i jumped up on top of a mini van, and i did a super ultra mega power drive...then i snapped out of my delusion and realized that the prison mentality was ruining my life...and eating all remnants of my anger management. the nice little lady apologized and i shrunk to about 1.5 inches and went home and cried. so for the last 5 years, i have been on the administrative side, no longer a guard, and in november, left the contact position altogether. now, the only contact i have with offenders is in correspondence. i have a much more pleasant disposition now. ((batting the eyes...then subtly rolling them...)) so, since i am at work, i MUST DO SOME WORK!! will you all LBTers PLEASE stop tempting me with your curious little posts...you know i cannot resist the temptation to look at what you have written!!! luv u guys!

i wear a medic alert id bracelet anyway, so, no, people around would not think twice about it... and medic alert id bracelets are taken very seriously in medical emergencies in my area of the world:confused: (TEXAS that is...) hey magic, if you wanna be cool, you will get one too!! and i thought about the tattoo thing, but i dont have any tattoos. i will have to dedicate more time for consideration on that matter, but if you can draw me a catchy tatt, i would consider!!:clap2:

dont worry, let them treat it and after a couple of days on antibiotics, it will be fine. i went through the same thing last summer. OUCHY!! make sure you take all of you meds and drink plenty of Water. it would be a good idea to give your surgeon a heads up, just incase this little infection tries to travel around your body. good luck!!